


Corellian Roses

by yahootoldyou



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: Angst, Hanahaki Disease, M/M, Nobody Dies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-06
Updated: 2018-10-08
Packaged: 2019-03-01 05:25:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13287927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yahootoldyou/pseuds/yahootoldyou
Summary: Before he knows it, they’re at the diner and he is following Obi-Wan into the place in which Anakin’s life may end. He knows he greets Dex, knows he follows Obi-Wan to a booth and orders a drink, but he honestly can’t focus.Finally, Obi-Wan fixes him with a pointed look, telling Anakin it’s time for him to explain.“It’s called The Petaled Death.”





	1. Chapter 1

_“What?”_ The sound is sucked out of his ears, the void of it threatening to consume him. He had heard the meddroid the first time, but the reality of it hasn’t come down quite so harshly until now. 

_There are flowers growing in your lungs._

Luke hacks up another petal, gagging around the sweet scent of it and the texture in his mouth. It leaves his tongue dry like it always does, the petal floating delicately in the air until it rests on the durasteel floor of the ship, the white rose petal a sharp contrast to the deep gray of the metal. 

“It seems as though the disease is hereditary, Master Skywalker,” the droid says, tone completely dry and matter-of-fact. Luke nods, standing to make his way from the room.

“Master Skywalker, the disease is not in my records, I am unable to help you any further,” he warbles out to Luke’s retreating frame and Luke nods. He knows what this is. 

Has heard of it between the savage winds of Tatooine, on the bloodstained lips of locals who know what it is far too well. 

They called it _The Petaled Death_ , not really knowing much beyond what it means, what it could do to someone. It means that Luke had been royally stupid, had fallen in love with someone who could never love him back. 

He feels the saber on his hip, knows that he must talk to Ben, must find out what he can do to stop the disease. First, he stumbles into his quarters, wanting to just be alone for a moment. 

He collapses on his cot, hacking up petal after petal on the floor and allowing himself to cry. He picks up one of the white petals, the ones with just a tinge of pink. He wishes to know what kind of flower it is, just to have a clue as to whose fault this disease is. He examines the death bringer with wary eyes, happy for the first time that he grew up in a desert and never fell in love with such living beings only to be destroyed by them later on. 

_They are taking up space in your lungs. They will eventually prevent you from breathing._

_The disease is hereditary._

“Hey Kid,” a familiar voice calls out, Han entering the room without a care in the world. His eyes quickly find Luke’s sobbing, shaking form. 

“Luke?” He asks, his voice full of concern, “Luke, are you okay? Sorry, dumb question. What’s wrong?” Normally Luke would find Han’s rambling to be cute, but now he really just wants to be alone. 

“Where’d you get the rose petals?” He asks a few seconds later, completely distracted in a normal Han fashion. 

_Rose petals?_

“You know what plant these are from?” No, no, no… _It can’t be._ Luke squeezes his eyes shut, knowing for sure now that he is well and truly fucked. 

“Yeah, they’re native to Corellia. My mom used to plant them and carry them with us while we traveled… Ya know, before they left me,” Han explains, but all Luke can feel is the filling of his lungs, the pounding of his heart. 

_Now is the time the smuggler decides to open up, while I’m about to puke up Corellian rose petals._

“Han, I’m so sorry. I’m sorry, but I need to be alone right now,” he rambles out and luckily Han just nods, even if he does look disappointed. 

“It’s okay, Kid. Come find me when you’re ready to talk, yeah?” He asks, his gaze hopeful and Luke can only nod. The door swooshes closed behind Han and Luke falls backwards on his cot, knowing that first things first, he needs to sleep. 

Maybe when he wakes up, this will all have been a terrible, month long dream. Still, as he drifts off to sleep he can’t help but think, 

It’s _Han._ _You’re in love with Han Solo._

_Fuck._

 

 

 

 

_“Luke…_ Luke,” a kind voice calls and he shoots upwards on his cot, looking around the room. It’s familiar, his surroundings, the walls a dry clay, the windows allowing bright light through into the homestead. 

He’s on Tatooine. 

“Ah, I see you’re awake,” the kind voice mutters and Luke’s eyes fall on his mentor, the one and only, Obi-Wan Kenobi. The man is sitting on a stool, his grey beard gone, replaced by the ginger one of his youth. His eyes are still kind, his mouth tilted in a small smile, but this is a man Luke has never met, one told about in legends, seen only in age old holopics from the Clone War. 

_“…Ben?”_ He asks, needing to be sure that General Kenobi is really his friend, knows him as well as Ben did. 

“Hello, Young One. It is good to see you, upsetting circumstances aside,” he says and yup, that’s all Ben. He smiles at the now not so old man, wondering why he has come to see him. His lungs feel unbelievably clear here, and he enjoys breathing in the dry air of his home, even if the planet holds nothing for him anymore. 

“Why am I here?” He asks and Ben’s smile droops a bit, the smile falling as sorrow overcomes him. 

“You’re here because there is a story you must see in order to understand and… I’m sorry, Luke, but I’m not the good guy in this and there are things you will see that are deeply upsetting and personal,” he breathes in, a single tear escaping before he continues, “there are things you will learn that I should’ve just told you, but I had hoped it wouldn’t be a problem.” Luke looks at him for a moment, honestly not knowing what to say. 

“I… Yeah, okay Ben. I’ll see whatever you need to show me,” he says and Ben smiles bitterly, before gesturing to the wall behind Luke with his arm. When he turns, the wall has disappeared, showing him a world loitered with tall skyscrapers. There are speeders flying around and theres an ancient looking building in the distance, different from the modern ones around him. He turns to look at Ben, but the man is gone and Luke finds he’s sitting in the back of the speeder with two men in the front. 

One of the men is undeniably Ben, but the other, the one with wavy short hair pulled into a pony with a small braid hanging behind one ear the same color as Luke’s… Well Luke doesn’t actually know who he is. 

“Ben?” He asks, reaching forward to clasp the man’s shoulder, but he finds that his hand falls through him, the Ben in the front of the car continuing on as if Luke isn’t even there. Deciding to test his luck, he launches himself over the edge of the speeder, readying himself for the feeling of free falling, but after about ten feet, he finds himself sitting in the speeder again. 

_Oh well,_ he thinks to himself, _might as well just see what this is supposed to be telling me._

 

 

“Master, we’re coming up on the temple,” Anakin says, looking over at Obi-Wan who is sitting in the speeder next to him. His Master’s golden bronze hair is blowing in the wind and Anakin feels the air being stolen from his lungs. 

“Very good, Anakin. I have to meet with the Council, but would you like to grab dinner from Dex’s later? To celebrate a job well done?” He asks and Anakin agrees quickly, a flush growing up the side of his neck. He pulls into the hangar bay, quickly exiting the vehicle, choking a bit as he hurries away from his master who is far too pretty for his own good. 

He feels a weird sensation as he palms his way into his and Obi-Wan’s quarters, fingering with his braid lightly. He is newly eighteen, newly washed in hormones he has no idea what to do with. He is still a teenager, he knows, but he loves his Master more than he could ever love anything else. 

He walks into his own room, falling back on his cot with a huff, closing his eyes tight and trying to choke down the thing that keeps crawling up his throat. Eventually, he keels over, hand coming up to grasp at his own throat and the walls seem to collapse in on him as he wretches up a wild blue-purple lily flower from the planet Stewjon. He wretches three of them before he can finally breathe again. 

When he first started coughing them up, he had taken them to Master Nu in the archives, wanting to know just what Pretty Petaled Death was coming his way. Of course he knew what it was, he grew up a slave in the alleys of Mos Espa. 

The Petaled Death, a disease the smugglers that stopped by the shop said was native to Tatooine; ironic considering the planet has no flowered plants of its own. It is caught when one falls in love with someone who does not love them back. 

“Ugh,” he groans, “why does it have to be _Obi-Wan?_ Obi-Wan, my super stuck up Jedi Master who believes all attachment to be evil?” He turns, shoving his face into the pillow and falling into a restless sleep, knowing Obi-Wan will wake him up when he returns. 

He’s woken by the feeling of the flowers being ripped from his throat into the world, tears spilling from his eyes as the thorns get stuck and then rip smooth cuts into the soft flesh of his tongue and gums. Six wild lilies lay on the floor by the bed, blood tainting their dainty petals. Anakin groans, his eyes squeezing shut when he hears a gasp. 

Through tear bleary eyes he looks up to see Obi-Wan staring down at the floor with horror. 

“Anakin… Anakin, what-“ He cuts himself off, walking over to crouch down and examine the flowers. He eventually looks up at his apprentice, some sort of pity and fear playing out on his features. Anakin sighs, this is exactly what he didn’t want to happen. 

“Obi-Wan,” he says, feeling the blood that had pooled in his mouth dribbling down his chin. Obi-Wan moves quickly, hauling Anakin up and pulling him into the fresher to clean the cuts in his mouth. Anakin lets Obi-Wan clean out the cuts for him, the man pressed in between his thighs and for a moment, while in the man’s direct care, his lungs feel clearer than they have in so long. 

Eventually, Obi-Wan pulls away, smiling at Anakin, his eyes bright and so so blue. 

“Dex’s?” He asks, holding his hand out and Anakin nods, taking his hand and hopping off the counter, going to put on his outer robe so that they can go. When he looks back, Obi-Wan has picked up one of the flowers, his eyes narrowed and Anakin clears his throat, spooking his master. 

“Coming!” He drops the lily on the floor, Anakin wincing as he does, and follows behind Anakin to the door, catching up to him in the corridor. Anakin can see the questions on his lips, but he decides to wait until the diner to answer them. In public, Obi-Wan may not make as much of a scene. 

Still, Anakin will die if Obi-Wan doesn’t return his love, so he at least has to ask. He at least has to know if death is inevitable. He breathes, in and out, and tries to figure out how to phrase his admittance to loving Obi-Wan. 

For Anakin, loving him is beautiful, it’s a gift from the force to be able to love someone, but he knows… He knows for Obi-Wan it is an evil, something that if not returned will ultimately strain their relationship more than Anakin ever wants. 

If his death wasn’t on the line, he’d keep his mouth shut. He’d find a way to keep his mouth shut. But that isn’t an option for him anymore. 

Before he knows it, they’re at the diner and he is following Obi-Wan into the place in which Anakin’s life may end. He knows he greets Dex, knows he follows Obi-Wan to a booth and orders a drink, but he honestly can’t focus. 

Finally, Obi-Wan fixes him with a pointed look, telling Anakin it’s time for him to explain. 

“It’s called The Petaled Death,” he says and Obi-Wan’s eyes grow even more concerned, his mouth in a tight frown, “the smugglers on Tatooine called it that anyway, I don’t know if it has another name. They say that it’s native to Tatooine, but my mom isn’t from Tatooine and it’s… It’s hereditary, she had it once.” He winces, Obi-Wan clasping his hand for comfort. It’s a simple action, but it spurs him on. 

_There’s hope! He might… He might love me._

Obi-Wan asks no questions so Anakin finds himself continuing. 

“It… It happens when you fall in love with someone who doesn’t love you. The flowers grow and they continue to grow until they choke you to death. And before you ask, the only cures are having the love returned or,” he pauses, closing his eyes tight to keep the tears trapped there, but they begin to escape anyway as he continues, “or you have them removed, but once you do any and all love for that person disappears.” He finishes, grabbing his drink that the waitress must’ve brought over during his rant and sips it deeply. 

“Anakin, I… Who is it? Maybe you could love in secret or, we could have them remo-“ Anakin holds up a finger, trying not to choke. He doesn’t want them removed. If Obi-Wan won’t love him, at least he’ll die knowing he loved at all. 

“That’s not an option. My mother had that operation, Obi-Wan. She was never the same. It changes a person, steals a part of them away. Their compassion… I don’t wan’t that,” he declares, but he’s pleading too. It isn’t an option for him and doesn’t want Obi-Wan to suggest it again. 

“Well, who is it?” He asks again and Anakin sucks in a breath. It’s now or never. 

“It’s you.” The world seems to spin as Obi-Wan hardens, his posture becoming stiff, his jaw clenching… Obi-Wan looks down at the table, at their untouched food that came at some point and Anakin wants to reach over, but he senses that would be a bad idea. 

“Anakin… I’m sorry,” he says and Anakin feels his heart break, feels it snap in his chest and he knew deep down that this would happen, but he isn’t remotely ready for it. He shuffles out of the booth, standing and looking down at Obi-Wan who is still looking at the table. 

Okay, so he’s going to die then. 

“I’m gonna go…” He tosses him the speeder keys, them clanking on the table and Obi-Wan looks up at him, his eyes blank. 

“Anakin… Where are you going?” He asks and any of the hope Anakin may have felt dies. His heart is breaking, but it’s worth it. If he’s going to die, loving somebody as good and as worthy as Obi-Wan is a good reason to go. 

“I-I want to be alone right now,” he says and goes to leave but stops, turning back, “don’t wait up. I’ll be home later.” He leaves, ignoring Dex’s call of goodbye and he goes back to the temple, but he walks through the lower levels to get there. 

Eventually, he arrives at the temple, keening over to cough up several lilies. He clears his mouth, feeling the blood dribble down his chin, but he just goes inside and to his quarters, relieved to see Obi-Wan isn’t there. 

He goes into his room and locks the door, coughing up several more lilies. He figures now that he knows for sure, the disease will come for him and swallow him up whole. 

_Please hurry, I don’t want to live in a world where Obi-Wan ignores me._

He lays down, not cleaning up the flowers and blood, instead climbing in to his cot, and rolling to face the wall, determined to sleep for the rest of his short life.

When he opens his eyes, Mace Windu is standing over him, face stern, but not angry. The man appears to have some sort of sorrow in his eyes. There are other Jedi surrounding him, he realizes and he wishes the ground would open up and swallow them whole. 

“Padawan Skywalker, we’re here to escort you to the medbay for your procedure,” he says and Anakin sits up, realizing there’s no where to run. 

“No! No, Master _I don’t want this!_ ” He begs as he stands, but as soon as he does, two Jedi grab his arms, lifting his feet off of the ground. They escort him even as he kicks out, screaming. 

He sees Obi-Wan out in their living area. 

“Obi-Wan, _please!_ I don’t care if you don’t love me! Just let me die! I don't want this! _Please, I don't want this!_ ” He sees Obi-Wan’s shoulders hitch, but they pull him out of the room. 

They drag him all the way to the medbay before in his panic, he chokes on the lilies and passes out.

The next day, when he wakes up, Obi-Wan is standing next to his bed, but there are no feelings bubbling up inside of him where they used to be. He can’t even be bitter towards the man, all he feels is utter nothingness. He’s still out of it and he feels himself falling asleep. 

“Hello, Master,” he says and his tone is flat. Obi-Wan’s eyes narrow for a moment before he reaches over and brushes his hair from his face. 

“Sleep,” Obi-Wan says and as Anakin loses consciousness, he swears he feels a kiss pressed to his forehead. 

 

 

When Luke comes out of the weird force vision, he feels tears trailing down his face. He looks around the old homestead, finding Ben sitting on a stool in his kitchen area. He walks over, sitting across from him. 

“What I did… I will never forgive myself for it,” Ben says and there are tears in his eyes.

“Anakin loved me and the worst part of what I did is that I loved him too. I was far too old for him and he was my student and because of my fear, he lost that love forever,” Obi-Wan chokes for a moment. He breathes in and out and when he looks up, he seems far more collected and he stares at Luke for a moment. 

“He was my father right? I mean, I know it seems dumb to ask, but I just need to be sure.” He looks at Ben and the man slumps on the table next to him. 

“Yes, he was. Before he met your mother, he suffered from your disease. There is a cure beyond being loved in return, that’s why I wanted you to hear the story, but he was right. The surgery changes people and it isn’t something I want for you.” He says and Luke… Luke doesn’t want it for himself. He can’t give up on Han without even asking him if he could possibly love Luke in return. 

“Ben, what you did… Well, I don’t think it was right, but everyone makes mistakes. I’m sure if my father was alive, he would forgive you,” Luke says and when Ben cries harder, he just sits with him, rubbing his back. Finally he feels himself waking up and so he asks his last question. 

“Do you know what this disease is, Ben?” Because if he has to die, he wants to die knowing what exactly it is that is killing him. Ben smiles bitterly.

“I do not. I looked for it in every archive the Jedi had at the height of their power. It’s an old legend lost to the sands of Tatooine, only even mentioned in the smugglers routes,” Ben admits and Luke nods, smiling at his mentor as he feels his body waking up. Luke swallows down his disappointment. 

“Bye, Ben,” he waves. 

“See you soon, Young One,” the man bids farewell and Luke opens his eyes. 

 

 

 

 

His quarters are small and dark, but he’s determined to find Han. He goes to the hangar to find him, looking around for a moment when he sees him. 

He’s leaning against the wall, his classic smirk on full display as he flirts with none other than… _Leia._

And the look in his eyes, Luke recognizes it. He saw it in the way Anakin looked at Ben and even how Ben looked at Anakin. He sees it now in the way Han looks at Leia and in the way she looks at him, faking her annoyance as she flirts right back at him.

_They love each other. Even if they don't recognize it yet._

His two closest friends… He can’t burden them with this. 

He feels the roses move in his lungs as he seeks out Mon Mothma. 

“I need to have a surgery,” he says, “do you know anywhere I could go?” She regards him for a moment and nods. 

“There is a place… Polis Massa. An asteroid.” He gets the coordinates from her and she looks him up and down for a moment, clearly wanting to ask questions but deciding against it. The name of the asteroid pulls at his heart... As if he has been there before. 

“Would you like Captain Solo to escort you?” She finally asks and Luke laughs bitterly. 

“No… No, I’ve got this.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> part 2

“Madam! Um, Ma’am! Mothma!” He calls, wincing as he rushes to catch up with the woman draped in white. She turns to look at him, her expression kind as she smiles at him slightly, one of the only people on base who doesn’t look down on him. He can feel the judgmental stares of other rebels as he huffs in air, winded from running around the base all morning. 

He isn’t sure when he started viewing himself as a rebel, but for now he isn’t going to question it. 

“Um, sorry to bother you, Madam Mothma, but uh, do you know where the ki-where Commander Skywalker is?” He asks, bringing up his hand to scruff his hair a bit in embarrassment. The woman tilts her head, her smiles never faltering and she gestures him forward, leading him into an empty conference area. 

“Tell me Captain Solo, did you know Commander Skywalker was sick?” She asks when he closes the door and he freezes, every atom in his body sticking to the floor. He must look like a fish out of water, one of those googly-eye looking ones from Nalbo. Or is it Naboo? He’ll ask Chewie later. 

“He’s what?” He doesn’t know what to do. _Luke? Sick? What?_

“He’s sick. He told me that he needed to have an operation and if I knew where he could go. I sent him to Polis Massa and offered to let you escort him, but he said he was fine to fly himself there,” she explains and he must look like he wants to flee the room because she smiles kindly and gestures for him to leave. He nods at her before sprinting out of the area towards where he last saw Leia.

“Princess!” He calls, rushing towards her. She’s standing by the falcon with Chewie, a concerned look on her face. 

“Han, thank the force! Luke’s missing!” She insists, her expression so open and pure that it nearly takes his breath away. 

_“Kid, you all right?”_

_“Yeah, just something stuck in my throat.”_

“He’s not missing.” Han says, Leia’s features immediately relaxing in relief, “he told Mothma he needs a surgery. He didn’t tell her what.” Leia looks at him as if he’s lost his mind. 

“Surgery? Let me find out more about this,” she says, moving to go around him and probably track down her mentor, but Han shoots his hand out, grabbing her by her sleeve and stopping her from leaving. 

“She told me where he went, Your Worship. If you want in on this trip to Polis Massa, you gotta get on this ship right this second,” he says and his tone leaves room for no argument. She looks like she’s about to try anyway, but her shoulders slump and she stiffly removes his hand before turning heal and walking up into the ship. 

“You sure about this, Han? Luke didn’t seem to want us there,” Chewie rumbles and Han looks down at the ground for a moment. It’s true that Luke specifically said he didn’t want Han to fly him there, but it’s Luke. And he’s Han. And they… Luke’s one of his best friends, part of this small ragtag family he’s formed in this doomed rebellion. He has to go, Luke would do it for him. 

“It’s the Kid, Chewie. Since when does he have any clue about what’s best for him,” he says and Chewie seems to accept this as a fine enough answer. Han goes in the ship, sitting down next to Leia as Chewie primes the ship for takeoff. 

“What do you think happened to Luke? Why didn’t we notice anything was wrong?” Leia eventually asks, bringing her knees up her chest and resting her chin on them. Han reaches over, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder, rubbing lightly with his thumb. The guilt on the Princess’s face is not hard to understand, he feels it to. 

How did they miss it?

_“Where’d you get the rose petals?”_

He plays the last conversation they had over and over in his head, hoping to catch something in the memory that might clue him into what he’s missing. As he flies out of the atmosphere, leaving Hoth behind them, he ponders on what he’s going to find on that asteroid. 

 

 

 

 

“My Lord! The Millennium Falcon left a standard two hours before we sacked the base if their flight logs are correct,” some random officer reports, Vader clenching his fists. 

“What of Skywalker?” He asks, wanting to know if his reckless child was once again on that metal deathtrap of a ship with the treasonous princess and the no good smuggler. 

“If out intel is correct, My Lord, and he is indeed Red Five, his fighter left the hangar three hours before his comrades,” the man says and Vader nods, waving a hand to dismiss the officer. So, Luke wasn’t on the Millennium Falcon with his friends… 

If the ship could be located, he’d have the perfect trap for his son to fall in. 

“Anakin, please, don’t do this,” a voice he used to love so much says and Vader turns his head to view the blue apparition of one Obi-Wan Kenobi, his lip pulled tight in a sneer even if the ghost cannot see it. 

“You lost the right to any opinion on my actions when you stole my heart, Kenobi,” he hisses, his modulator regulating the noise regardless. Obi-Wan’s eyes are sad, that much Vader can see, but he punches in the bounty offer on his comm, sending it out to all reaches of the known galaxy. If the Millennium Falcon is spotted he wants to know about it. 

“Anakin-“ “That is no longer my name, and I no longer wish to hear your voice,” he rumbles, stalking off to survey the rest of the base. 

Soon he will have his son, that is all that matters. The only thing that has touched his dead heart since Mustafar, where Kenobi solidified his betrayal and stole his wife. 

He can feel Kenobi’s gaze, but he ignores him resolutely. 

 

 

 

 

Hours later, Han’s thrown from his slumber as the falcon is torn out of hyperspace, the hyperdrive groaning as it is. He shakes his head in confusion. He can hear yelling and he stands, making his way towards the cockpit where Leia and Chewie are currently… Arguing? Panicking? He can’t tell. 

“What’s happening?” He groans, stumbling into the cockpit. Leia’s head shoots up, her eyebrows furrowed cutely, and Chewie barks out a harsh laugh, calling Han something that roughly translates to pathetic. He wanders over to the pilot chair, looking over the console, trying to decipher what’s wrong with his baby. 

“Hyperdrive?” He asks Chewie and his co-pilot shouts out an affirmative. Han groans, checking their coordinates. 

“Well, we’re in luck! Or well… Anyway we’re in the Bespin system,” he mumbles and Chewie laughs. 

“Talk about bad luck,” Chewie nearly laughs himself off of his chair, Han reaching over to shove him a bit. Leia looks between them, her cold stare not nearly endearing in this situation. Here, when out of the know, Leia is actually frightening. 

“What’s going on?” She demands, hands on her hips and one eyebrow raised. Han smiles sheepishly, shrugging his shoulders.

“An old friend is here,” he says and she huffs, knowing he isn’t giving her the whole story. Still, she doesn’t press the issue, obviously trusting him more than he thought she ever could when they first met. 

He pilots the falcon towards the gas planet in the near distance, wondering how he’ll be greeted. He uses Lando’s name to get to the surface, knowing that this may go very badly. 

Still, Luke is in danger and he has to do what he can to get to the kid as fast as possible. 

He lands the ship, putting on his bravest face to go out and face Lando. 

 

 

 

 

“My Lord, the Millennium Falcon as well as Captain Han Solo, Princess Leia Organa, a wookie, and a golden protocol droid were spotted on Bespin. Cloud City to be sure,” Admiral Piett says to him as his chamber opens. Vader’s helmet is lowered onto his head and he turns his chair, the man standing in front of him bravely. 

“Change course for Bespin,” he orders, Piett saluting with an affirmative. They’re about an hour off Bespin from his calculations. A lucky day indeed. 

“Anakin,” the voice that never leaves him says, “Anakin, don’t hurt the princess! Whatever you do don’t-“ He shuts Kenobi out, moving to stand and go survey his bridge. Anticipation courses through his body, making him feel alive in ways he hasn’t in so long. Luke will be his, will rule by his side like he was always meant to before Kenobi stole the rest of his heart by kidnapping his son and his wife. 

His wife is dead, he knows, and a lot of that is his fault, but he can save his son. It’s not too late to have his son by his side. 

 

 

 

 

“Lars? Luke Lars?” The doctor asks, a woman with long dark hair and piercing green eyes looking at him from the entrance to the examination room. He smiles sheepishly at the woman, standing and following her back into the sterile hallway. They enter a perfect monochrome gray room, very typical of a medcenter. He sits where she gestures.

“Tell me, why have you come in today?” Luke squirms in his seat, knowing he has to be honest about his weird medical problem or the doctor won’t be able to fix him. He clears his throat to speak, knowing that the doctor probably wont believe him and he’ll have to convince them enough to allow him a simple x-ray. He breathes, calling out to the force for calm himself down. 

A screech screams through his head, the call of his friends too strong to block.

_Han!_

_…Leia!_

He scrambles up out of the seat, the doctor looking at him with wide, scared eyes. He tries not to panic to remain somewhat in tact, but the doctor seems to see right through him.

“Mr. Lars?” She questions, her mouth in a firm line. 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. It’s just… Look, I really need your help as soon as possible, but my friends need me. Can I come back?” He asks and the doctor’s mouth quirks upward. 

“I’m sure your friends are fine, Mr. Lars, but if you leave you are welcome to return at any time,” she says and her face is kind. Luke smiles gratefully. 

“Thank you,” he says like a prayer before sprinting out of her office and out towards where he left his fighter. 

“Artoo! Take me to Cloud City, Bespin!” He shouts back at his trusty astromech who whistles out an affirmative. Luke puts on his helmet, knowing he has to save Han and Leia no matter how hard it is to see either of them before his surgery. 

They’re his friends, his only family left in this strange galaxy. 

He’ll save them. 

And he’ll deal with his heartache after. 

 

 

 

 

Leia looks up at Han as they wait for Lando to come back. She studies her favorite smuggler’s features and she knows… She knows that a man like him will never work with a woman like herself. She is never going to give up on the cause and he’s only in the cause to help Luke and herself.

_Luke…_ The kid brother she never had. She loves him too, but Han is different. She loves Han, but she knows that he is in love with an idea of her. 

…And the actual reality of Luke. 

She wonders if he’s even noticed it yet, the way his entire world brightens when Luke enters the room. The way he loses his mind when Luke is away from them on solo missions. 

She wonders if Han realizes he jumped into running after Luke without a second thought because he loves Luke. 

So, now that it’s just them and the smuggler is worried to death about Luke, she knows she has to stop whatever desperate moves for comfort he pulls in her presence. 

She loves Han, she loves Luke, but she’s in love with her cause. 

The rest of her life has to wait. 

Han towers over her now, his hand coming up to brush her jaw line. She smiles at him, but when he goes in for a kiss, she shoves him back. 

He looks at her with hurt puppy eyes, and she smiles her most reassuring smile. Han loves Luke, he can’t screw it up by being with her. 

“As much as I wouldn’t mind kissing you, Nerf Herder, I don’t much like being a place holder,” she says and smirks when he visibly flounders. She pats his cheek, going to sit by the window. She can hear him sputter behind her as she smiles out at the horizon of Cloud City. She’s never been here before, but she has to admit, it is very beautiful. 

…And Lando is also very beautiful. 

Food for thought. 

They hang in silence until Lando comes to fetch them, saying he’d like to treat them for a meal while they’re stranded on planet. They walk the monochrome halls, similar to the Imperial palace in ways she doesn’t like to think about. 

Luke and Han stumbled into the rebellion, but she was grown within it. She has been in the heart of the beast. She has had encounters with Vader and others before that time on the Death Star. 

She has seen the Emperor in person.

So when Lando opens the door and Darth Vader is there to greet them, she admires Han’s action to pull out a gun and shoot, even as she knows it will accomplish absolutely nothing. Vader redirects the bolts. She knows fear must show on her face, but she steels herself, drawing her blaster and pointing it at the bounty hunter in the corner of the room. 

She fires eight shots, piercing his eye shields on the fifth, her aim perfect. 

The bounty hunter falls, Han turns to her in astonishment, and Leia smirks at Vader, putting her hands up in surrender. 

 

 

 

 

Vader watches the princess smirk, her face reminding him so much of his late wife that it hurts to look at her. Princess Leia Organa has always been a force to reckon with, he knows. He has faced off against her several times. 

The girl has a quick mind, and a sharp eye. She’s an amazing shot. He knows that she is a credit to all who had any part in who she is today. 

But stars, he struggles to find another sentient in the galaxy who he despises more than her. 

_Whatever you do, don’t harm the princess…_

No words for Luke, Vader’s son, just the rebel princess. Vader swallows the bitter anger he feels towards Kenobi even now. He has them escorted back to their cell. They will wait for Luke’s arrival there. 

“Take a random beggar off the street and test the carbonite machine, I need these prisoners as bait for Skywalker,” he orders Calrissian, whose eyes are wide in fear. He nods, leaving Vader to brood. 

“Anakin, this will not go the way you think,” Kenobi hisses and Vader turns, looking at the apparition in pure distaste. 

“If you wanted a say, Kenobi, you should not have betrayed me,” he snarls and watches the ghost of a man he used to love recoil from the blow of his words. In another life, he may have taken pride in the effect they had, but here and now it’s only the bitterness. 

Kenobi robbed him of everything he ever loved.

“Which time?” The man asks and Vader is the one left reeling. When he turns around, fist raised to choke the life out of something that is already long dead, Obi-Wan is gone. 

Vader ignores the loneliness that settles in his veins. 

 

 

 

 

Luke can feel Han and Leia in the building when he lands, carefully making his way through the hallways, praying Artoo doesn’t give them away. 

He feels the presence that threatens them, knows he must face his greatest enemy to set them free. 

_Vader._

The man that killed his father. 

He follows the black hole, knowing that he may not make it out of this. 

He rounds a corner, finding a turbolift that seems promising. He enters, leaving Artoo wailing behind him, going up to a dark floor and , all seemingly centered around a strange machine. He coughs for a moment, desperately willing the flowers to go down. Luckily, for once, they do. He moves forward, finding Vader up a set of stairs, a lone menacing black shadow on the platform. 

“The force is strong with you, Young Skywalker, but you are not a Jedi yet,” he hears and honestly rolls his eyes. 

 

 

 

 

“Leia, what’re you doing?” Han asks, looking at the woman who is now using a nail file to fry the lock on the door. She rolls her eyes over her shoulder, looking at Han as if he is boring her.

“Obviously, I’m trying to get us out of here-“ she says, cut off by her own screech as the door slides open, revealing Lando and… _Artoo?_

“I found this guy roaming the halls,” he explains quickly, ushering them out the door. They follow him even as Han accosts him for his betrayal.

“Where are you taking us now, huh? To another dinner party with the devil himself?” He taunts and Leia storms next to him, her expression also thunderous. 

“Listen, I didn’t have any other choice, okay? But I’m doing the right thing now, okay? I’m breaking you out of here, so let’s move, Half Brain,” he says frustratedly, moving quickly through the halls. Chewbacca and Threepio argue towards the back, but Han and Leia keep up with Lando, not trusting him for a second. 

A door slides open, stormtroopers stopping them. 

“Halt! Where are you taking the prisoners?” He asks and Lando puts on his classic charm, his smile fake and wide. 

“Lord Vader requested I bring them to him,” he says and the stormtroopers look at each other. 

“We have no record of-“ Suddenly the corridor is filled with Lando’s personal men. They take the weapons from the stormtroopers and Lando ushers the group onward, patting Lobot on the shoulder as they move along. Towards the hangar where they stored the Falcon. 

“Believe me now?” He asks and Han scrubs the back of his head. 

“Still a rotten thing you did, but yeah I guess we’re square,” he mumbles, but it’s the fiery princess who rounds on him. 

“We’re not square until we’re on a ship and at that medcenter with Luke, you hear? Our friend is sick and you’ve kept him from us long enough,” she snarls, Lando looking at her in sheer surprise. 

“Sick? No, Princess. He’s here. Why do you think Vader wanted you in the first place? You’re bait for Skywalker. He arrived on planet with Artoo about an hour ago according to surveillance,” he says and it only angers Leia further. 

“You want us to leave Luke?” She demands, her anger a sight to see. Lando balks, cowering underneath the heat of her stare. 

“Fine, we won’t leave, but we at least need to get in the air where it’ll be harder for them to catch us. Vader’s more than likely preoccupied anyway.” The implications of that scare Han and Leia, but they follow him, conceding that it may be the best course of action at this point in time. 

_Please be okay, Luke_ , Han prays to the force. 

 

 

 

 

Luke stares at the stump of his hand in horror, Vader staring down at him, his mask revealing nothing. Luke inches backwards, not knowing anything other than he absolutely needs to get away from Vader. 

He took his father, his father’s lightsaber, and now his hand. 

“Luke, you do not yet realize your importance” Vader’s voice thunders around him, echoing around and Luke feeling his head spinning, keeping careful balance and grabbing the pole to hold himself up. 

It doesn’t help that Vader took his dominant hand. 

He feels the childish need to tell this man to shut up, the way he would’ve to Biggs in Tosche Station back home on Tatooine. Vader had taken that home from him too, Luke knows who ordered those droids found, and now he has threatened the home he has found out in the harsh galaxy.

“Obi-Wan never told you what happened to your father,” Vader continues to prattle and Luke’s head is spinning, but he knows this is far too low of a blow. 

“He told me enough! He told me _you_ killed him,” He spats, his hand sweaty enough that he feels his fingers slipping on the metal. He grips it harder, but he knows this must end one of two ways, with him in custody or with him falling. Both are horrible options. 

“No,” he hears the horrible monster say, “ _I_ am your father.” Luke coughs then, flowers erupting from his mouth without an end in sight. After a few moments, he wipes his mouth of the blood spilled on his lips, his throat and heart equally raw in this moment.

He watches Anakin Skywalker study the flowers spilling from his son’s lips, a sick feeling growing in the pit of Luke’s stomach. 

“The Petaled Death,” Vader must whisper, the sound distorted and not even there all the way as it makes it’s way through the vocoder in his mask. They meet gazes, Luke’s eyes shining with freshly formed tears. 

“Come with me Luke. We will handle your illness and you and I can rule the galaxy as father and son. You can destroy the Emperor, he has forseen-“ 

“You would do that to me?” Luke asks, his eyes pained and Vader knows he has made a grave error, a misstep his son will not forget or forgive easily. 

He goes to reply, but Luke beats him to it. 

“I may not know the whole story, but I come from Tatooine too. I know what having them removed does to a person. If you’re willing to hurt me in such a way, I don’t care if you’re my father.” It’s a lie, such a lie, but Luke has said it and there’s no going back. Suddenly, it’s a survival thing. Not for his physical lie or wellbeing, but the maintaining of his soul.

The only person who is allowed to take Luke’s love for Han away is Luke himself. He knows what happened to his father, the agony Obi-Wan put him through. He pities his father, he does, but he won’t allow himself to suffer that sort of betrayal. 

“Luke, if only you understood the power of the dark side,” Vader, no, Anakin says and Luke looks him in the eyes of that horrible mask on his face. He doesn’t know the whole story, but going with his father is not the way to find out what it is. 

“If you could do that to me, Vader, Father, I don’t really care... You’re no better than who did it to you.” Vader says nothing as Luke lets go, falling down into the abyss, but he feels a straining in his eyes.

The pressure of tears where he knows he is no longer capable of shedding them. the air around him is deathly still, everything seemingly silent. He can’t even hear his own breathing for a moment. 

He is alone, his son gone. Not even Kenobi has come to mock him this time.

 

 

 

 

Luke falls down, the shaft opening and dropping him into the open gas of the atmosphere. He grips at a pole, but his lacking of a right hand is distressing and he knows he must be rescued quickly. 

He reaches out, feeling the presence of his friends and calls.

_“Leia… Leia, hear me,”_ he says, the words so hopeful they almost sound like a prayer. If they don’t get to him soon Vader will and Luke… If he never sees the black shadow of a man who used to be his father again, it’ll be too soon. 

Leia must hear him, because the Falcon appears in view as his fingers start to cramp from the exertion. It pulls underneath him and he falls, allowing himself to be manhandled by whoever was waiting to grab him. 

When he finally settles his breathing he hears a voice.

_“Kid… Kid, are you with me? Luke, can you hear me? Luke!”_

But he loses consciousness, feeling safer than he has in what seems like the longest time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> its here! so many wonderful responses to the first part of this inspired me to write more! unfortunately, or not for you guys hopefully, you all inspired me so much it will now have a third part as well! thank you for reading and i hope you enjoy!


	3. Chapter 3

Vader kneels in front of the Emperor, feeling the stare of Kenobi as he stays on his knees in front of the man who really stole everything from him. He feels shame bubbling in his gut. Why should he? Why should he feel shame for hurting the boy so deeply? Kenobi did him a favor when he rid him of his heart, he exposed him to the realities of the galaxy and made him strong. 

_He broke you. He robbed you of compassion and turned you into a monster. Palpatine may have molded you, but Obi-Wan created you._ He shuts those thoughts out. He is better this way and Luke will be too when he gets the surgery. He clenches one of the flowers that had tumbled out of his son’s mouth in a tight grip, another wrinkled flower extended towards his Master. Palpatine uses the force to lift the flower to his hands. 

“What is this?” The old hag of a man asks and Vader wants to snarl at his ignorance. Did he not know about Vader’s own illness in all the time he spent stalking and forming the perfect apprentice?

“They are flowers that fell bloody from the boy’s mouth. He has the Petaled Death,” he informs the Emperor and the man strokes his chin in thought. Palpatine examines the rose carefully, his features not quite confused, but close enough that it is an expression Vader is sure he’s never seen on the man before. 

“A Corellian rose? Is the boy not from Tatooine? Why would he be puking flowers from Corellia?” And Vader… Vader _knows._ He looks at his Master, deciding that this is a secret he must keep for now if it will prove for vital leverage over his son. 

“I do not know,” Vader lies and it is loaded with the force. His shields tell the other man he is clueless, but in reality he knows why Corellian roses are falling from his son’s lips. He remembers the lilies from Stewjon, the ones that screamed Obi-Wan’s name as much as his own voice yearned to. 

“You are dismissed Vader. Find out what this Petaled Death entails and come back to me,” he instructs and Vader bows his head once more before standing and taking his leave. He hates kneeling, especially before that man, but he will do what he must. He walks the halls of the palace back towards his own quarters. He’s hardly ever on Coruscant, but his suit needs repairs after his duel with Luke. 

“You protected them. Luke and the smuggler,” Obi-Wan’s voice says and when Vader looks around he is nowhere to be seen. So he hasn’t fully shown up today. A rare occurrence, but a welcome one. He finds he doesn’t wan’t to see Obi-Wan’s face with the memory of the lilies still fresh in his mind. 

“It was not protection,” he snarls as they enter his quarters and he palms the door shut, “Luke will overthrow the Empire with me. I will use the smuggler towards that end.” He hears Obi-Wan sigh and is about to turn around and yell, but he can’t see the ghost. 

“Anakin… Anakin, I’m so sorry,” that once so loved voice says and Vader resists the urge to scream, “I’m so sorry I did this to you. You must know… You must know I loved you too.” Vader’s eyes go wide and he cannot react for several seconds. _This isn’t fair!_ Obi-Wan… This was all his fault! He feels like he can’t breathe even as his suit regulates the air in his lungs. 

“How can you _say_ that? After everything you did? After you robbed me of my heart?” He roars and he can feel pain from the ghost. Obi-Wan’s not even here, not even alive- Vader _killed_ him! Yet, the sadness of the dead remains; total and infinite. 

“The same way you can say it about Luke. I did what I thought was right at the time so you would live and be a Jedi. I was wrong, Anakin. Don’t make my mistakes,” Obi-Wan whispers, his voice hushed and in pain. Vader is too shocked to comment immediately and when he works up enough rage to, it no longer matters. Obi-Wan has left him again and for just a moment, Vader swears he can smell the sweetness of lilies on his own breath. He knows it is a lie, he lost the ability to smell to the fire. The loneliness returns full force and for a moment, Darth Vader- formerly Anakin Skywalker, struggles not to cry. 

 

 

 

 

When Luke awakens, flowers rip from his lungs onto the floor. He feels like he’s drowning in them, like he will never breathe again. _Will they finally take me?_ He wonders that until they stop flowing, stop ripping their way out of his throat. When his airway is clear he gasps for air, flopping back onto the cot he’s laying on and closing his eyes, allowing the tears to fall. He calms quickly, far too used to this by now and ready to get it all over with. 

If there is one thing his encounter with his- with _Darth Vader_ taught him, it’s that he truly doesn’t want the surgery. He doesn’t want to end up like his father. He swallows, already knowing that it will hurt. Still, the pain is fiery and he reaches over, hitting the button to call for a med-droid. He needs some liquid bacta for his cuts in his throat. 

“Luke?” He hears a voice ask and goes rigidly still. In his pain, he hadn’t reached out with the force to see if anyone was there with him. In fact, he doesn’t remember anything besides falling into the Falcon and passing out to the sound of Han’s voice. This isn’t Han’s voice though, it’s just Leia’s. He blinks bleary eyes open to harsh light and sits up. There, in the corner, is Leia Organa with her hands pressed over her mouth. He smiles and waves at his best friend, reaching up to touch his throat to indicate he can’t talk. 

Just as she opens her mouth to say something, the droid busts through the door and when he scans Luke, he just hands him the bacta to drink. When he looks up to give the droid back the bottle, Leia is gone. He feels his heart sink and he knows that they may force him to leave. 

They will want him to get the surgery, to save his own life. They won’t understand why he won’t have it and he won’t tell them about Vader. He cannot become his father. He _can’t._ He can’t have his friends hate him because of who his father is either. He opens himself up to the force, hoping Ben will come to offer him some form of hope, but he hears nothing. Choking back tears he lays back down, not wanting to sleep. He wants his throat to heal before the next round of violent flower throw up. 

 

 

 

 

“Master, the boy is fading quickly. I fear what may happen, for what someone might feel they have to do,” Obi-Wan pleads and Yoda hums, resting on a rock. Young Skywalker is a strong light, one that they do need to win, but he will not make the same mistake twice. He will not rip the heart of a Skywalker man out and leave him to fend for himself. Yoda’s end is near. 

Apparently, Luke Skywalker’s end may also be near. 

_There is always another_ , he thinks and watches Obi-Wan stiffen. 

“That’s it, Master!” He gasps and Yoda wrinkles his brow. 

“We have to tell the other Skywalker. She must know what this is and how to potentially stop it. If anyone can save Luke it’s Leia. His sister. His mother’s daughter,” he says and Yoda harrumphs on his stump. If he could bring his stick down on Obi-Wan’s foot he would.

“Involve ourselves, we should not, Obi-Wan. End well, it did not, last time we tried,” he tries to reason with the man, but Obi-Wan has always been prone to attachments. He wants to make things right. He wants to save one Skywalker where he could not save another. Yoda shakes his head sadly. 

“Master, I have to do this,” he whispers and disappears. Yoda rolls his eyes. When it comes to Kenobi, a Skywalker will always be his greatest weakness. 

 

 

 

 

“Hello, Young One,” he speaks and Leia Organa rockets out of her chair where she was previously sitting with her head in her hands. She looks at him in awe for a moment before hiding that emotion and placing her politician facade over herself. 

“What are you?” She questions and he has watched over this girl. She is so like Anakin in ways Luke never was. When he was younger, Obi-Wan waited for one of Luke’s characteristics to scare him, to remind him of Anakin to a point where he felt the force should never be introduced to him lest they get another Vader. 

He feels it is a good thing he was with Luke and not Leia. He fears he may have damned her for mistakes her father made when in reality, Leia is as much of the light as Luke is. She is angry, but it is a righteous anger for others; one that she uses to fuel her fire to set things right. It is Padmé’s anger with Anakin’s temper. 

“My name is Obi-Wan Kenobi and I am a force ghost,” he states because Leia Organa does not like beating around the bush. She is a fire, a guiding light for others that they so desperately need right now. In love with her cause the way her mother always had been. Still, she is wiser than most would believe and she nods at him. Later, when she can think of how odd this truly is, she will rationalize it. Until then, she’ll let the punches come as they will. 

“Hello, General Kenobi… What are you doing here? Is this about Luke’s illness?” He can see the rationalizations flying behind her eyes, trying and trying to figure it out even as she just lets it come. 

“I’m here because of that, yes, but I’m here for you too,” he expresses and watches her body shift in confusion. He launches into the tale of Anakin, himself, and Padmé. She listens even though parts anger her greatly and understandably. He can see her making connection and her high opinion of him sinking. Good. He deserves it.

“They had children. Twins,” he finally says and she is glaring at him with so much judgement regarding how he handled the sickness in Anakin Skywalker. Her eyes narrow, then they widen, then they settle at a neutral anger at all involved in the situation. 

“Darth Vader has twins that can inherit this disease,” she says and he nods. 

“Luke Skywalker is the son of Anakin Skywalker and therefore one of the twins,” she deduces and Obi-Wan nods again. She closes her eyes, placing her head in her hands and sighing deeply. 

“And Luke, the boy I immediately felt some sort of a connection to. The boy who I loved like a brother almost instantly and never had an issue trusting even though that’s so unlike me… Luke is my brother. I’m the other twin,” she finally concludes and Obi-Wan smiles gently, nodding again. 

“Which means my brother, my _twin_ , is dying and you just chose to tell me all of this.” Obi-Wan opens his mouth to respond, but Leia Amidala Skywalker Organa holds up a single finger to silence him. 

She stands and leaves, walking towards where Obi-Wan can feel Luke’s fading presence. He knows she doesn’t want him to follow so he disappears. He has confidence in this fire child. 

 

 

 

 

“Who is it?” She asks when she appears in the doorway. Luke, whose throat has considerably healed, opens his mouth to respond when Han Solo storms into the room. He basically shoves Leia out of the way and she chooses to ignore his rude behavior for now since he’s clearly on a mission. 

“The roses,” he states and Luke freezes, eyes darting back and forth. He doesn’t respond, but he doesn’t need to, Han gently walks forward and sits on the edge of the cot Luke is recovering on. He leans forward, ghosting his fingers down Luke’s bruised throat. All of the high collars he’d begun wearing recently... Leia feels gross for never realizing. 

“I’m a smuggler, Kid. The Petaled Death is a legend only spread along smuggling routes. Did you think I wouldn’t know it?” Luke looks away and Leia feels as though she is intruding, but she cannot leave. Han’s hand creeps up to ghost along Luke’s cheek and he inches closer. 

“Is it _me_ , Kid? Do you love me?” Leia feels like this is happening so quickly, but she knows that it isn’t. She has watched love bloom between these two for so long, the two coming together like magnets. She feels the brush of fur and looks up at Chewie who nods down at her. This is private, but they must witness it because it truly is the beginning of something special. Han stares at Luke like he is the stars and Luke opens his mouth to respond finally. 

_“Yes,”_ he rasps out and Han smiles that great big grin of his. Carefully, so very gingerly in a way Leia wouldn’t have thought the man capable of, he lifts Luke’s head so that he won’t hurt him. His smile softens and he leans in, Luke’s breath audibly hitching all the way across the room. 

“Should we go?” Leia asks Chewie, not once moving her eyes from Han and Luke who finally press into each other, their lips meeting briefly and then coming apart. It is sweet, the kind of first kiss every young girl ever hopes for and Leia smiles. Her brother will get his happy ending, he will _live._

Because _of course_ it was Han, who else could it have been? 

Neither of them move and Han and Luke are wrapped up in each other for another few seconds before Luke gasps, sitting up and pushing Han back a bit as he does. 

“You love me too,” he declares and Han blushes a deep red. His face is redder than Leia’s ever seen in their years as friends, but his smile is genuinely soft. It’s his Luke smile, the one he saves for her twin brother. She smiles and looks up at Chewie who wraps his arms around her. 

_Finally_ , it seems to say, _finally these idiots got it together._ She couldn’t agree more. 

“Of course I do,” Han whispers and Luke pulls him down for a much stronger kiss. Leia and Chewie take their leave then, deciding they have probably overstayed their welcome. 

“I know you do,” they hear Luke laugh, “because they’re gone, Han. The flowers are gone, you’ve healed me.” Leia and Chewie smile at each other before they run off, giving Luke and Han the alone time they deserve. 

Kenobi didn’t need to tell her the truth after all, Han had figured it out on his own and fixed it. She’s glad to know though and when Luke’s done with Han she’ll tell him about their own relationship and that she knows the truth about their father. She knows it’s just another burden he won’t have to shoulder alone. 

They’re a family now; her, Chewie, Han and Luke. Not that they weren’t before, but they definitely are now. 

 

 

 

 

When Luke finally sees Vader again, he hasn’t heard from Ben in a long while. The Rebellion is thriving under the leadership of himself, his boyfriend and his sister. They’re with him now, a team instead of a divided unit. He stands in the middle, his saber lit and they flank his sides with their blasters raised. R2D2 is behind them somewhere and Chewie stands tall above his head, bow raised at their father.

“I felt you get better in the force, My Son. I am proud of you for having the surgery,” Vader says and Han growls for a moment, Luke placing his hand on the other man to calm him down. Vader watches the gesture and feels his stomach sinking. He had hoped that Luke had gotten the surgery so he would live and eventually join his father. He suddenly doesn’t think that’s what actually happened. 

Obi-Wan had stopped coming to him after their last encounter, his loneliness only getting worse. 

Still, he will do what needs to be done. 

“I didn’t have the surgery, Father,” Luke states and Vader feels his head start to spin. Luke and the smuggler? His son and a petty criminal? An urge he didn’t know he had comes roaring forward; the need to protect his boy. 

“Captain Solo, I was under the assumption your feelings were for the Princess,” Vader mocks, ignoring how that statement makes his son flinch. The smuggler grins at him and Vader wants to choke him. 

“Wrong twin,” he chuckles and Vader reels. _Twins?_ He looks at the Princess, the carbon copy of his wife and if he could vomit he would. Luke and Leia. Twins. _Of course_ they are. He should’ve _known._ When Kenobi warned him not to harm the princess it was to protect what parts he knew were left of Anakin Skywalker. 

_“What?”_ He gasps and it sounds like a snarl through the vocoder. If he could still cry, he would. He knows what he’s done to these three children. He knows he could never be forbidden. Especially by his daughter. 

“We will not fight you today, Father. We have come to offer you something,” Luke says and stands back, allowing his sister to come forward. She is Padmé; intelligence, strength, grace… She is made of _his_ fire though. That is why they always clashed so violently. He knew they were going to have a girl... His baby girl. 

“We offer you a chance. We know your story, we know what happened to you was beyond your control. We want you to come back to us. You need to repent though... and help the Rebellion take down the Empire and all it stands for. If you do… We would like to know you,” she admits and his heart is thundering in his chest. It is clear this isn't easy for her to say, but she does. The force tells him she means it. His children smile at him and then each other. The smuggler and the wookie never take their eyes off of him and Vader is so shocked he doesn’t even want to choke them for their idiocy. 

“Here’s a comm. When you make a choice, let us know,” Luke says, tossing the machine in the dirt near Vader’s feet. He smiles at his father once more before taking Han’s hand and turning on his heel, walking up the ramp to the falcon. Leia follows and finally the wookie and R2D2. The droid turns at the last second and from where Vader stands he can still here it when he begs. 

_Please, Anakin. Come home._

He falls, sitting in the dirt and watches as his happy children pull up into the atmosphere. 

“They are happy, you know,” Obi-Wan says, materializing next to him. Vader looks up at him and his heart feels like it might be breaking. 

“I can’t do what they want me to,” he says, hoping Obi-Wan will agree. Hoping that he’s too far gone. He can’t face what he’s done and become. 

“Of course you can, Anakin. You’ve always been able to do the impossible,” he states like he truly believes it and Vader can feel when Obi-Wan's ghostly fingers intertwine with his own metal ones. They have both caused so much damage, but _maybe…_ Maybe they can heal together. 

Vader sits and ponders it, watching the sun set with Kenobi by his side.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay after a very VERY long time, i finally finished this work. I'm so sorry it took so long, but i hope you enjoy it as much as i did. thank you for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> i may write another chapter if everyone likes it enough! let me know what you thought of it in the comments below! thank you for reading!


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